Art of vulcanizing.



J. R. GAMMETER.

ART OF VULGANIZING.

APPLIUATION FILED MAY 15, 1908.

1,004,865. Patanted 0013.3,1911- I i y "rw" F 'l Gl. M "lul" i IIIII ATTORNEY unreal) sTATEs leirrun'r rein-E.,

'JOHN n. GAMMETER, oFAKRoiL oHro, ASSIGNOR To B. F. Goonnrcn 10i/Llamar,l or

' AKRoN, 0HIo, A CORPORATIQN or OHIO.

Aar or vULcAmz'iNe Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented' Uetl, 1911.

Application 1e1-May 15, 1908. Serial No. 433,005.

the art or method of vulcanizing, especially adapted to the vulcanization of elongated articles 'suoli as hose or tubing.

`lliure `*particularly 'it relates to the Vultfionfo articles'of'such character as a continuous process. in a inanner somewhat snuilar to that described in -my lformer apff yliations Serial No: 374,686`5led lvlay 20,' NGT, Serial No. 379,831 filed June 20, 1907, since issued l.as patents numbered Qlliland QQGASQ, respeqtiyelyj y "Bin apparatus for carrying out the iinprovewniethod forming the subject of this q appnwtion, 1s described and claimed 1n a companion application Serial lilo.- 428,433

april 2.2, 1905, `issued March 2," 1009, as n. Number'1913,72Qend is also described in this case for purposes of illustra tion and explanation.

lici'ore my inventions, the-usualV inode of rulranizing hose, solid rubber tires, belting oiother articles of. elongated forni, was either to vulcanie the'articles'in straight molds oi' such length aseould be easily handled, in which the lengths produced here necessarily quite limited, or; in the case or, small hose or tubing, to vulcanize it in coiledfidrrn. .f lhe latter method, however, lil: pr inanent curve orset by being vulcanized -ii-'hrle coiled, which n ialfesthe hose, when in use',A incon'ifenient tohandle and of diminished `durability. lily .present1 invention avoid the .defects orn both or" these methods.-

ln the accompanying drawing forming partei this specification, Figure l is a loir gitudinal vertical. sectionthrough a vulcan ininginachine byiu'lich niy'iinvention may be practiecd. Fig. Zia a transverse section ot' the machineon'tlrc line I'l-H of F ig. l. Fig. ,an end Iel'eiation of the machine looking atth Winding end thereof. Fig. t

a transverse section, and` Fig. 5, a lon- `gjitudinal ysection .through the -ceiling die; Fig. el. being taken upon the-line' IV-IV of 'the v.oljijection that the tubing is given a l l"through the heating chamber, l spirally EWind upon; the hose just Abefore it enters the cha inber one or .more hands which may fbe either'round or Aflat wires, or strips of other suitable material.

wound closely and conipactly about the Fig. 5,- and showing the hose in section, and Fig. 5 being taken on lineIV-Vef Fig. fl, showing a portion .of the guidev tube with the fined gear attached' thereto.' and showing aportion of the hose'and mold in elevation. l" ig. 6 is .a View similar to'Fig. 5. of a slightly ymodified izonstruction, the hose and mold being omitted. 7 is a View similar yto Fig. 5 of another modified forni. a I, i

Referring to the drawings in'detail, l is a vulcanizer supported onl pedestals 2 and provided with a central longitudinal charnber or channel 3 through Which preferably extends at guide tube 4. This guide tube may, however, be dispensed with and the interior surface of the chamber be itself used as a guide tube; The vulcanizer is preferably divided longitudinally-into two seetions, which may be separated-to permit the introduction or reinoyal of thev guidetube, In the preferred forni ofrny maehine'feah of these sections is made hollow and provided with suitablemeans, a pipe 5 for the introduction' of steam thereto to serve a heating medium. Any other arrangey nient Y:tor heating 'the cha-naher or guideI tube' may, however, he r sorted to. The heeej 40, or other article to be vulcanized, is desigi-.ied

to be passed through chanibenin the.

vulcanizer ccntinuouely or .substantiallyl continuously, and at such arate that 1t vWill be subjected to heat for a' suiiicienulength 'of tinge to properly vulcanieeit, so that I upon its enit itroin the Chamber .it- Will-bein a finished state.

For the nur )ose of su Online and moldr 1 i f D ing 'une uncurcd hose and tor feeding it These' wires heino1 C hose, forni a casing or incid therefor.- -I r.hey completely incase the hoseduring its passage through the heating chamber, and upon' its emergence therefrom, may be' unwound, leayingthe hose fully vulcanized and needing no further support. l haicfrlevised a particular machine for the p nrposeof Wind, ing. these Wires about the hosealnd unwinding them. therefrom, though-itis lerliectly possible to use the Wires in the Way which @thereto by set screws I have described Without this apparatus, as lthe wires may be Wound by other devices or by hand. In this apparatus, I provide a winding pulley t) at the entrance to the vulcanizing chamber and an unwinding pulley 7 at its exit. These pulleys are, driven by belts about their peripheries, or in other suitable manner, and are mounted concentricallv with the axis of the channel through the vulcanizer upon hollow journals so that the hose may be passed through the journals and through the vuleanizing chamber. VhereI use a separate guide tube in the chamber, I prefer .to extend this at each end beyond the chamber, as at 8, S, to form these journals. The Winding pulley carries one or more spools or reels 9 from which the Wires forming the mold are drawn. These reels are preferably provided with some frietional tension device, such as the springs l() pressing upon washers, to prevent them from running too fast, and allowing the Wire to becomev tangled. To cause the wire to take the proper coiled formation Without cutting the soft uncured rubber of the hose, I preferably pass it through a coiling die 11, which surrounds the hose. This ceiling -die ll is shown most clearly in Figs. 4 and 5, and consists of a sleeve oarried by fingers 12, which project from the lspokes or other portions of the winding pulley. These fingers preferably unite at their inner ends in a ring 13, which may be threaded on the inside and into which a portion of the coiling die `ll screws. Any other means of attaching the die to thetlnx gers may be used, or the separate die may be entirely dispensed with and the ring ,13 itself be shaped to form a die. I prefer, however, the separate die as shown, as a new one may then be inserted to replace one which has become Worn. The ceiling die or sleeve is .formed `with a tapered mouth let adapted to guide the entering hose and with an enlarged and internally threaded portion 15, which receives the winding wires 16. and causes them to coil into spiral form. The Wires enter the die through suitable apertures 3S. For thel purpose of feeding the Wires from the reels or spools t) through the, apertures 38, and for forcing them to assume the coiled formation and to lie close to the screw threaded inner sur face of the die, I provide a pair o'f rolls 1S and 19 carried by a suitable part of the winding pulley, as a Web 37, which grip the wire frictionally. One of these rolls 1S is positively driven by a gear Q0. which meshes with a fixed gear 2l, preferably car ricd upon the end of the journal project# ing beyond the Winding pulley, and secured 09 or in any other v 1-1, s s suitable manner. The Wire 11s suticiently stitl" to be foreedor pushed by the feeding l rolls into the. ceiling die and coiled therein.

The feeding rolls are driven at. a slightly greater peripheral speed than that at which the wire taken up by the hose, whereby they tend to feed or push the wire forward into the die, but they are adjusted so that they Will not positivelj.v grip the wire, but will slip upon the same before the wire will buckle. In order to enable thewire to sustain the pressure necessary to force it inte the die, the feeding rolls may be placed close to the apertures in the die, so as to leave as short a length as possible of the portion of the wire under compressiorn un supported There a little space separates the rolls and the die, as in the form shown in the drawings, the requisite late 'al support may be obtained b v providing the die with tubular extensions ll'. The ceiling die l1, also serves the purpose oit-feeding the incased hose through the vulcanizing chanr ber, for as it revolves with the winding pulley, itsl threaded portion l5 acts as a revolving nut upon the coiled wires lt' surrounding the hose and screws` or feeds the hose forward. The hose is preferably intlated before being passed through the nia-y ehine to give it more rigidity. aud to cause it to expand tightly within the wire win/.ling. rThe walls of the hose are thus subjected to compression which causes tae .la versy of rubber and fabric to properly adhere.

I usually make the tubinc of a little larger diameter than the size wait-h I intend to give it when vulcanizedaml then reduce it to its tinal size by winding it tightlv with tlie\vii'es o1' bands. This produces a more compact product. The increase in diameter due to the inflation, may be'sutiicient without actually making a larger diameten The unwinding` mechanism practically the reverse of the winding. 'The pulley provided with reels or spools 23 for receiving the unwound wire which is fed to them between rolls Qt and 25. A fixed gear QG similar to the gear 21 is mounted upon the projecting end of the journal S. or `in any other suitable manner. and with it meshes a gear 2T journalcd upon the uuwiuding pullev` Which in turn meshes with a gear "2S, which drives the spool or reel :23, also with a get r Q9 which drives the rolt No die is necessary at the unwindiug` of the device` but the wires pass directl)v fromv the hose through the feed rollsaud Yt o the positively driven reels.

In Fig. G, I have shown -a slightly modified construction of the die-holding rin and die, the ring being marked 30 and the die B1. In this case the wire passes through an aperture Si extending through both the ring' and the die. No extensions are necessary as the parts of the apertures` 32 in the ring' il() take their place.

Fig. 7 shows a die I?) constructed to coil flat bands 35 around the hose in place of the round Wires. The operation is substantiallythe same, the bore of the die, however, not being threaded, but being provided with a cylindrical enlargement 36 to hold vthe coils. The end wall of this enlargement forms an abutment .34 against which the bands 35 react to force the hose and casing' chosen for illustration, is as follows: The,

hose 40 is fed into the machine from a storage reel (not shown), or the machine may be placed adjacent to the tubing machine from which the hose may be -fed directly into the vulcanizer. As the hose advances through the revolving ceiling die, the Wires are rapidly'and evenly coiled about; the same, and owing to the inflation of the hose, tightly grip it, The revolving ceiling die through the screw action above described causes the coils of wire and the hose to slowly advance through the vulcanizing chamber at a speed so proportioned to the length and temperature of the chamber that complete vulcanization of the hose will have taken place when it reaches the exit. As the hose emerges, the Wires are unwound by the unvvinding device. and the hose in finished state, reeled up ready for shipment. 'I he spools or reels 5.-) are of such size as to hold a very considerable lquantity of -Wire so that the 'machine may be run for a long time without the nerwssity7 of changing spools. The spools may be made interchangeable with the spools 9, so that when the wire is entirely reeled thereon, they may be placed on the winding pulley, though usually, I find it more desirable to reel the Wire from the spools 23 through a straightening device and on to spools 9. The. ap.

paratus for doing this, however, formsno part of my present invention, and I have not. therefore, shown or described 1t herein. It will be seen that as the pulleys 6 and 7 revolve, the gears 2O and 27 'carried thereby which mesh with the gears 21 and 26 respectively, iied to the ends of the guide tube 4, which in turn is secured from revolving, in any lsuitable manner as by the set screws 39, will be positively driven for the purposes already set forth. rlhe inner diameter of the guide .tube 4 should be of suli'icient size to permit the incased hose to freely pass therethrough. In fact, there need be no guide tube 'throughout the length of the chamber as long as some suitable'l mea-ns of supporting the incased hose, is provided.

In describing my method, I have referred to a particular apparatus which I have found well adapted for practicingit, but I do not Wish to be limited to the use of such apparatus as any devices by which the necessary steps in the process may be carried out, will sullice. I may even wrap the 'bands about the hose or other article by hand and push or pull the wrapped article. through the vulcanizer. I may use one. three or more bauds instead'of two as shown. The hose may be in [lated or not as is found desirable, and any suitable substance may be used as the inflating medium.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. The method of vulcanizing which consists in wrapping a band spirally about the article to be vulcanized, and simultaneously feeding the wrapped portion of the article through a vulcanizer. 2. The method of vulcanizing which consists in wrapping a band spirally about the article to be vulcanized, simultaneously feeding the wrapped portion of the article through vulcanizer, and. unwraljniing the. band from the port-ion of the article which has )assed through the vulcanizer.

3. The method of vulcanizing which consists in simultaneously wrapping a band about an article to be vulcanized, advancing the wrapped portion of the article through a vulcanizer, and unwrapping the band from the 'vulcanized portion of the article.

4. 'Ihe method of vulcanizing tubing which consists in infiating the tubing, wrapping a band spirally about the tubing, and

simultaneously feeding the wrapped lportion of the tubing while inflated through a vulcanizer.

5. The method of vulcanizing which consists in spil-ally winding/a band upon the article to be vulcanized and feeding the wound portions of the article through a vulcanizing chamber' at the same rate that th band is applied.

'6. The method of vulcanizing an article, of great length `which consists in progressively winding a`band about the article, and

simultaneously pushing the article through a vulcanizer from the charging side thereof.

7. The method of vulcanizing an article of' elongated form which consists :in` Wrapping a band spirally about the article While maintainingl the point of application Aof t-he band to the article in a fixed plane/trans# verse tothe article, whereby the article is caused to longitudinally advance, and simultaneously subjecting the ivrappedportion of the article to vulcanizing action. 4B.. The method of vulcanizing which consists in wrapping a band spirally about the article tobe vulcanized with sutlicient tenvconsiets in wrapping a plurality of bands sion to reduce the cross-section of the article,

and simultaneously vulcanizing the Wrapped' portion yoi' the' article.

' t). The method of vulczinizing tubing which consists in inlating the tubing, Wrapping n band spira-lly about the tubing With sufficient tension to reduce its diameter, and Simultaneously .feeding the Wrapped portion ofthe tubing through a vuleanizer.A

l0. The method ,of Vulcanizing which spirally about an article to be vulcanized, and slmultan'eously vuleanlzing the Wrapped yportimi of the article.

ll. The method of V'ulcanizing which Consists inl independently causing a band to assume e coiled form, Wrapping the same about an article to be vulcanized, and simultaneously vulcanizing the Wrapped portion of the article. Y

12. The method of vulcanization rof rub-l JOHN R. GAMMETER.

Witnesses JAMES D. TEW,` VALTER K. MEANS. 

